A Board-certified Pediatrician and Allergist/Immunologist shares a physician's perspective on parenting kids with allergies, parenting in general, and keeping it all together when all she really wants is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

As my family, friends, and patients know, I am a huge proponent of breastfeeding. Nursed Son #1 for a little over a year, and going on 8 moths with Son #2. Benefits definitely outweigh the occasional inconveniences. But yesterday, my dedication to "La Leche" was certainly tested.

Any nursing mother who works outside the home is intimately familiar with "The Pump". At work, in a restaurant, in the car (preferably not while driving, although I've been known to attempt such multitasking madness in the past) - you name it, we've pumped there.

Planning a trip away from baby is never easy, but when you're nursing, it complicates matters. Rather than pump and dump, I elected to store the milk and bring it back home for baby. I did a good deal of planning: arranged for a large fridge in the hotel room, packed plenty of bottles, bottle brush, a zillion little plastic storage bags, coolers, ice packs... even checked with the TSA website, which stated that I could carry onboard the aircraft " a reasonable quantity" of breastmilk.

Well, reasonable for me was a little over 100 ounces, all packed up in 6 ounce ziploc storage bags. I knew that the milk might need to be tested with a little device that checks for vapor from liquid explosives- as long as they don't touch the milk, I'm okay with it. That's why I deliberately packed some of the milk in easily opened bottles.

What I didn't anticipate was the following conversation:

TSA guy: "Ummm.... okaaay. Hmmm. Can I get a supervisor over here, please?"Me: "What's wrong?"TSA guy to me and the supervisor: "This breastmilk is testing positive."Supervisor: "Really? Well, that's never happened before."Me: "Please don't make me dump it. I'll cry."Supervisor: "Don't worry, ma'am. We'll just have to open some of these bags at random, though."

So, I ended up have to mess up my awesome system, upack the nicely stored bags, open them up to be vapor tested, and somehow get them bag in the cooler befoe my plane took off without me. It took a while. Good thing I was early!

Luckily, the TSA supervisor was really nice. Turns out his wife is a member of La Leche League, and actually had something to do with getting the TSA rules changed to allow more than 3 ounces of breastmilk onboard if you didn't have baby with you.

He also gave me this little tidbit: hand lotion has a chemical in it that causes the explosives testing machine to test falsely positive. Turns out the hotel was dry, and I was using hand cream a few times a day. It must have gotten onto the bags of milk as I packed them, hence the positive explosives test.

All is well that ends well. The TSA folks treated me with dignity, I made my flight, and I will never use hand cream before flying again.

About Me

Dr. Sakina Bajowalahas been practicing in the Fox River
Valley since completing her extensive training in allergy and
immunology. As an allergy sufferer herself, she
has a unique ability to identify with her patients and assist
them in developing a comprehensive plan to control their most
troublesome symptoms.

Dr. Bajowala has presented at national and state
conferences, and has designed research investigating the interplay of
allergic and gastrointestinal diseases. An accomplished public
speaker, she has been a featured guest on radio and educational lecture
programs, as well as quoted in national publications such as WebMD and Woman's
Day magazine. (Click here to see a list of articles in which Dr. Bajowala has been quoted.) She is the author of a popular allergy blog: "Achoo!- Adventures of an Allergist Mommy."

Dr. Bajowala is happily married with two young
sons. She's not only your local allergist, but also your neighbor- she lives with
her family in Sugar Grove, IL. Her interests include interior &
graphic design, exploring diverse cultures through world travel, and
vocal performance.